Steve, this was a great series. I was reading Stark’s book at the same time you were blogging through it and it was really helpful to hear another perspective as I tried to digest it all. Now I’m really interested to hear what other biblical scholars have to say about the book. Are you aware of any other critical reviews (by people worth listening to)?

Thanks, Steve, for the very thorough review of the book and for this index to all its constituent parts.

Whether consciously or not, Thom seems to have followed the pattern of Bart Ehrman who popularizes concepts which are not considered controversial by many in the academy but will be considered controversial by many in the church. The outcome is similar as well, which is a book full of admonitions to cling to bathwater instead of the Baby.

It seems to me that Thom means well, but he seems to challenge those who say 2 + 2 = 5 by insisting that 2 + 2 = 3.